New Iowa behavioral health hospital aims to address mental health care shortage

When people in a mental health crisis arrive at western Iowa emergency rooms, they can spend hours or even days waiting for psychiatric treatment because there aren’t enough beds available. A new facility opening soon in Council Bluffs hopes to change that.

Methodist Jenny Edmundson Behavioral Health expects to welcome its first patients in mid-June. The 96-bed facility was created in partnership with Methodist Jenny Edmundson Hospital and Acadia Healthcare.

“This is unique for our community,” said Dr. Monica Arora, the hospital’s chief medical officer. “Acadia has a wealth of information and experience in behavioral health, and Methodist Jenny Edmundson has very strong roots in the community.”

Arora said the facility was designed to meet the growing demand for inpatient psychiatric treatment in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska.

“There is definitely a gap when it comes to serving customers with mental health issues,” Arora said. “This hospital was built to fill that gap.”

Hospitals provide more than short-term stabilization. Arora said the medical team will focus on what she calls “whole person care.”

“We don’t just address symptoms; we consider each patient’s medical, psychological and social needs together,” Arora said. “We can track a client’s recovery journey and hand it over to a community partner, so they don’t feel as though they have to start all over again.”

Its holistic approach includes quiet outdoor spaces and a gym. Arora said he does not turn away patients for lack of insurance coverage.

Hospital officials are continuing to hire staff and are planning a soft opening to give employees time to become accustomed to the new facility before reaching full capacity. Patients have access to some of the following services:

• Acute inpatient care
• Partial hospitalization.
• Intensive outpatient program
• Electroconvulsive therapy

“We really want to be successful,” Arora said. “This is a brand new facility with completely new processes, so we want to start slowly and make sure everything is working as it should.”

Methodist Health System Offerings

The opening comes as Iowa continues to face significant shortages in mental health care.

The state ranks last in the nation for availability of psychiatric beds in state-run facilities, with just two beds per 100,000 residents, according to NAMI Iowa. The national average is 12 beds. A proposal introduced this past legislative session aimed at adding beds to state mental health institutes in Cherokee and Independence stalled in an Iowa Senate committee after passing in the Iowa House.

Mental health advocates say patients often don’t receive treatment until they reach a crisis point because of a lack of treatment options.

“There’s a lot of stigma attached to it,” Arora said. “Accessibility — We don’t have enough beds in the community, and I think that leads to the undertreatment of many mental disorders. We want to remove barriers to accessing services.”